the wardette studio blog

If "Home is Where the Heart Is", why would you marry anywhere else? James and Soph's country-home wedding is a perfect testament to why home can sometimes be the perfect place to wed. This choice of venue seemed the ideal setting for a couple so relaxed. But as you'll see from the photographs here, it also enabled them to be more personal, meaningful and romantic as hell.

There are a few things which stood out to me on the day, and in the photos afterwards.. One of them was the ceremonial arch, which the bride Sophie made with a friend. It was bent and twisted from found wood, and made and created in the garden especially for the occasion. On the morning of the wedding, I walked out to find the bride straddling hay bails, to reach the top of the arch. Weaving wild flowers and greenery through it's natural gaps, the arch began to look like it had grown out of the ground;

delicate and pretty, whilst still being sculptural and commanding enough to stand atop a ceremony so important. It was perfect.

This hands-on personal touch was clear throughout every single part of the day and set up. I gave my self an extra couple of hours to make sure I could document every sign, game, view and detail which the couple had thought so carefully about. And the flowers.. oh the flowers.

Perhaps the loose and natural style of the flowers was just to my taste, or maybe it fit the effortless, relaxed atmosphere of the family home.. Or both.

But there were flowers, literally everywhere;

hanging in gorgeous bottles from the edges of the marquee; tumbling out of miss-matched vases on the tables, growing in the garden (which had been carefully tended for this express purpose) the bouquets; the button holes; even the confetti was was homemade and hand dried.

The scent of this flora, and the thoughtful touch which lit up everything, was intoxicating.

Add to all of this romance, three awesome dogs which wandered freely for the entire day, and you have a through-and-through country-home wedding.

My favourite moment? During the couple shots in the long grass, I was prepping a hay bail for them to sit on. Whilst laying down a cloth, I looked up across the field;

they were so quietly, unassumingly and sweetly chatting, nose to nose, pulled in close together.

The idea that my camera might miss this, shortened my breath and quickened my pulse. I lept across the ground to grab my camera and long lens. The hay bail and cloth flew one way, and my feet the other. Though I privately chuckled at my OTT response, they didn't even notice. As I lay on the floor, breathless and relieved not to have missed the moment, I realised just how much I love my job (and how much it means to me to do it as well as I possibly can).

Huge thanks to James and Soph of having me along to shoot them, for inviting me into the magical place the bride calls home, and to all the friends and family who gave me nothing but smiles and great chat all weekend.